Terry Skrypek

Head Coach

Terry Skrypek can be reached at 651-962-5911 or at: tpskrypek@stthomas.edu

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As he looks to start his 22nd season as head coach in 2008-09, Terry Skrypek feels proud and fortunate. With some good assistants and a parade of talented players, Skrypek has built St. Thomas men's hockey into a national power.
 
The former Cretin High School multi-sport star has established himself among the top collegiate coaches in the country. He was named Division III National Coach of the Year in spring 2005 after his Tommies' remarkable run from second place in the MIAC standings to second place in the NCAA Division III championships. The injury-plagued Toms had three upset road wins in an eight-day stretch over teams ranked in the top five nationally. They finished 20-6-5 after a loss in the NCAA title game to Middlebury.

Skrypek reached 250 career college wins during the NCAA Final Four in March 2000. He came back with another MIAC title team in 2005-06 and closed 17-9-1.

The 2006-07 Toms won 10 in a row late in the season and finished 17-10, with the program's 25th consecutive winning season and 11th top-two MIAC finish in a row. In 2007-08, the Toms won the conference playoff and won an NCAA playoff home game before losing in overtime in the national quaterfinals to eventual champion St. Norbert.

In his 21-year era, St. Thomas is 394-175-39 (.680), including a stellar 258-59-19 (.801) record in the rugged MIAC. His 394 victories rank him among the top 70 on the all-time, all-division hockey coaching chart (30th among active head coaches).
      
Skrypek's first 20 Tommie teams have won 12 conference championships and have never finished worse than third place in the MIAC standings. His teams have advanced to the conference playoffs all 21 seasons, made the finals 20 times, and won the 2004, 2005 and 2008 postseason crowns on the road as a No. 2 seed.

Skrypek's teams have reached the NCAA playoffs 10 times and are the only conference team to reach a national championship game. The Tommies have played in the national finals twice -- they lost in the 2000 title game 2-1 to Norwich, and lost 5-0 to Middlebury in 2005.

He's helped St. Thomas hockey maintain its status as first in all-time wins among 68 Division III programs. The Tommies are now 991-574-69 in the 84-year history of the program.

Skrypek has coached 24 All-Americans in 21 seasons, including 2000 Division III Player of the Year Steve Aronson. He's also coached seven MIAC Player of the Year recipients.

Skrypek has never had a losing record in his 46 years of organized hockey as a prep and college player, a 17-year high school coach at Hill-Murray, and his first 21 seasons with the Tommies. In 17 seasons at Hill-Murray High School, his teams won 88% of their games, captured the 1983 state championship, and placed second at state three times.

In 2002-2003, Skrypek joined a select group of active hockey coaches to surpass 300 victories. In that season, his Tommies also won the 900th game in school history -- the first current Division III team to reach that milestone. In 2003-2004, the Tommies started 0-4 but went on to post winning streaks of 10 and four games and win the MIAC playoff finals in overtime 4-3 on the road vs. top-seed St. John's. The Toms lost in overtime in the NCAA playoffs on the road to UW-River Falls.

Skrypek is a member of the Athletic Hall of Fames at both St. Thomas and at his alma mater, St. Mary's, where he was a standout hockey player.

Terry and his wife Valerie have raised four children -- all Tommie graduates. Their son Bryan was an All-MIAC defenseman and four-year starter for the Tommie hockey team.

Terry Skrypek Year-By-Year
   
Overall (%)  MIAC (%)* Conf. place
87-88---21-10-0----13-3-0  Second
88-89---18-11-1----13-3-0  First
89-90---19-8-1-----14-2-0  First
90-91---18-8-3-----13-1-2  First
91-92---20-10-2----12-3-1  First
92-93---18-8-1-----13-2-1  First (tie)
93-94---19-5-5-----11-2-3  First
94-95---18-10-1----12-3-1  First
95-96---18-9-2 ----11-3-2  Third
96-97---18-9 ------13-3-0  Second
97-98---20-7-2-----12-3-1  First (tie)
98-99---16-12-3----11-4-1  First
99-00---27-4-2-----14-1-1  First
00-01---15-9-3 ----11-3-2  First
01-02---22-6-0-----13-3-0  First
02-03---16-9-2-----10-5-1 Second
03-04---17-8-3-----13-2-1 Second
04-05---20-6-5-----12-3-1 Second
05-06---17-9-1-----13-2-1 First
06-07---17-10-0----12-4-0 Second

07-08---20-7-2-----12-4-0 Second

Totals
------394-175-39---258-59-19
------(.680)-------(.801)

Career overall: 394-175-39 (.680) 
Career MIAC games: 258-59-19 (.801)